Rajan cuts through the RBI fog; tells officials to be professional | Business Line
Rajan cuts through the RBI fog; tells officials to be professional | Business Line
My VIEW:
The Editor The Hindu Business Line April 21, 2015 Infusing professionalism This refers to the report “Rajan cuts through the RBI fog; tells officials to be professional” (April 18). As one who had opportunity to read the text of Dr Rajan’s note sharing his thoughts with RBI colleagues, on which the report is based, thought it appropriate to respond to some of the issues raised by the RBI Governor. Many of the issues raised in the note are internal, like the insinuation that only Ph. D’s can interpret RBI circulars, cost involved in providing pens and pads at meetings, reducing costs on house magazine, under-exploitation of a staff suggestion scheme (which is in existence in RBI for decades) or better utilisation of residential space could have been sorted out internally and then gone to the media. There would have been no resistance inside RBI as the institution is known to be receptive to positive ideas from top management. Anyway, a media discussion on such issues may help other organisations in public and private sectors to take a view on such areas where prudence can make things better. Incidentally, all RBI Officers below the rank of Deputy Governor have In-house facilities for training comparable with those available for civil service officials in government. Till 1972, the specialised departments in RBI groomed officers in different core functions of the bank and there was a spell when skill-development was ignored. But induction of directly recruited officers at higher levels more than made up for the damage caused by merger of categories of officers in various specialised streams. There are several HR-related issues which remain not prioritised, mainly because the top management comprise of birds of passage who owe allegiance to interests outside the RBI. Of late, GOI exercising the ownership rights interfere in some of the management functions and also threaten to truncate the institution or weaken its financial strength by coercing to reduce RBI’s reserves level, so that more funds are transferred to government by creating artificial surpluses. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram
My VIEW:
The Editor The Hindu Business Line April 21, 2015 Infusing professionalism This refers to the report “Rajan cuts through the RBI fog; tells officials to be professional” (April 18). As one who had opportunity to read the text of Dr Rajan’s note sharing his thoughts with RBI colleagues, on which the report is based, thought it appropriate to respond to some of the issues raised by the RBI Governor. Many of the issues raised in the note are internal, like the insinuation that only Ph. D’s can interpret RBI circulars, cost involved in providing pens and pads at meetings, reducing costs on house magazine, under-exploitation of a staff suggestion scheme (which is in existence in RBI for decades) or better utilisation of residential space could have been sorted out internally and then gone to the media. There would have been no resistance inside RBI as the institution is known to be receptive to positive ideas from top management. Anyway, a media discussion on such issues may help other organisations in public and private sectors to take a view on such areas where prudence can make things better. Incidentally, all RBI Officers below the rank of Deputy Governor have In-house facilities for training comparable with those available for civil service officials in government. Till 1972, the specialised departments in RBI groomed officers in different core functions of the bank and there was a spell when skill-development was ignored. But induction of directly recruited officers at higher levels more than made up for the damage caused by merger of categories of officers in various specialised streams. There are several HR-related issues which remain not prioritised, mainly because the top management comprise of birds of passage who owe allegiance to interests outside the RBI. Of late, GOI exercising the ownership rights interfere in some of the management functions and also threaten to truncate the institution or weaken its financial strength by coercing to reduce RBI’s reserves level, so that more funds are transferred to government by creating artificial surpluses. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram
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